Money
Money is an item used by humans in the manner of commerce and trade, allowing them to purchase goods and services from each other, and is commonly used as a symbol of status and wealth. In the times of the Bible, monetary trade would be in the form of gold, silver, and copper, with money changers reportedly working in the Temple grounds to exchange Roman currency for acceptable Jewish currency during the time of Jesus' first coming. In the modern world, money is also in the form of paper bills as well as, increasingly, electronic information. The Bible tells us, on the issue of money, that people cannot serve both God and money, and that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It does not, however, condemn the use of money, but rather encourages believers to use money wisely, to make sure one pays their taxes to whomever taxes are due, and that although God owns everything in creation, He does require a tithe in order to support the continuance of the work of God through His ministers. In the Left Behind series, the world currencies at the time of the Rapture would be reduced to the dollar, the euro, and the yen. When Nicolae Carpathia brought forth the formation of the Global Community, it would all be reduced to the dollar, which was renamed the Nick in honor of the Global Community's founder and Potentate. By the midpoint of the Tribulation, the cashless "mark of loyalty" system would be put in place to prevent unauthorized commerce of goods and services, forcing Christians at that time to join the International Commodity Co-op in order to access a parallel market for basic supplies, although prices would still be given in Nicks. The cashless system would not be entirely successful in replacing paper money; for example, late into the Great Tribulation, the black market that Mainyu Mazda ruled over would still be using paper Nick notes, and Nick coins would still be used in vending machines in New Babylon. By the end of the Tribulation, the Nick would be greatly devalued as goods became scarce, eventually prompting a number of New Babylon financiers to commit suicide prior to the city's destruction in "Glorious Appearing". It is unknown what exactly replaced the Tribulation monetary system when Jesus took over as the ruler of the world during the Millennial Kingdom. However, it can be presumed that the economy would be mediated by King Jesus directly, and if any coinage were still required, traditional Hebrew terms for various denominations such as the talent and mite would be put back into use. In the interim period between the Second Coming and the beginning of the Millennial Kingdom, Ezer Bornstein allowed his customers to have free freshly-cut meat that he had butchered due to God blessing him with so much livestock that he couldn't accept anybody's money for it. A speculative (non canon) survey on the economy of the Millennial Kingdom can be found at https://emlia.org/pmwiki/pub/web/LeftBeyond.LBStuff.html Category:Real world issues Category:Biblical issues